30 incidents & 3 updates (2/4/13) – Safety Engineering (SAFTENG)

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since 1/2013	since 2011	since 2006	since 2011	since 2007

2013 Fatality Tracker

Electrical

(2012 = 68)

(2011 = 81)

(2010 = 90)

(2009 = 100)

Forklift/Manlift

(2012 = 52)

(2011 = 84)

(2010 = 110)

(2009 = 88)

Mining*

(2012 = 92*)

(2011 = 248)

(2010 = 480)

(2009 = 586)

*no longer includes China accidents

Explosions

(2012 = 241)

(2011 = 218)

(2010 = 246)

(2009 = 302)

Cranes

(2012 = 52)

(2011 = 50)

(2010 = 50)

(2009 = 82)

Falls

(2012 = 99)

(2011 = 123)

(2010 = 139)

(2009 = 172)

(2008 = 250)

Work Zone

(2012 = 62)

(2011 = 54)

(2010 = 50)

(2009 = 69)
(2008 = 69)

Trenching

(2012 = 44)

(2011 = 36)

(2010 = 54)

(2009 = 48)
(2008 = 90)

LOTO/Guards

(2012 = 44)

(2011 = 64)

(2010 = 51)

(2009 = 68)
(2008 = 66)

Confined Space

(2012 = 54)

(2011 = 62)

(2010 = 112)

(2009 = 73)
(2008 =137)

The numbers above are obtained from the news sources used to compile the Incident Alerts. They are NOT official numbers published by any government agency. They are derived SOLELY from my search engine search strings.

INDUSTRIAL

CRUSHING FATALITY Coroner releases name of western Pa. man crushed by steel coils in industrial park accident (a man, 60, was crushed to death by 5,000-pound steel coils in an accident – he was one of about 15 employees at the plant, where he had worked about 30 years – his job was to put the steel coils onto a perforation machine)

LOTO FATALITY WORKER TRAPPED IN CONCRETE MIXER DIES IN HORROR ACCIDENT (a worker, 59, died instantly when she was trapped inside a concrete mixer – stunned colleagues described hearing the woman’s terrifying screams as the machine was accidentally turned on with the worker still inside – the mother of six met her untimely death after apparently climbing into the machine to remove a pebble that was preventing it from working – fire Department officers later removed her lacerated body – eyewitnesses at the brick-moulding site revealed that the accident occurred in the morning when she got into the machine trying to clean it following a power failure – “I don’t want to imagine how a normal pleasant working day turned so horrible. It is a nightmare. We all ran away as the machine spun round with Jane inside screaming for help. I will live with the chilling sound of those screams for the rest of my life,” a fellow colleague who preferred not to be named said)

FORKLIFT FATALITY Worker killed at Minn. sugar beet plant (investigators are looking into the death of a worker at a sugar beet plant shortly before 3 p.m. – once on the scene first responders found a worker, 60, who had been run over by a payloader – visibility was poor at the time of the accident due to wind blowing beet pulp around the plant – the victim died from his injuries)

TRUCK BACKING FATALITY Co-op Worker Killed (a worker, 69, after a semitrailer truck backed into him at a grain elevator – he was standing in a street to direct a truck into the grain elevator when a second truck backed into him)

UPDATE on LOTO FATALITY Head injuries killed worker at seat belt plant (a man, 52, was killed at a seat belt factory when his head became stuck in a stamping machine – one witness told police the worker and another employee had shut down the machine so it could be oiled – when it was “jump started he was not able to extract himself out of the machine fast enough,” and was caught by the head, “cracking the back of the skull” according to the report – according to a police report, the witness saw the worker “hanging in the machine by his head,” and as he went to help him he “slipped loose and fell to the floor”)

Ambuja Cement plant death toll rises to five (with the recovery of one more body, the death toll in the accident at the Cement plant rose to five – the accident took place when a huge container carrying ash crashed in the plant during a maintenance operation in the mixing unit)

FATAL HOTWORK EXPLOSION on HYDROGEN TANK Blast at paper mill kills 2 workers (two workers, 30 and 55, at a paper mill were killed and another was injured when a hydrogen tank exploded at the mill – co-workers said the blast occurred at the chemical plant of the mill around 11:30 a.m. when the trio were welding the tank to repair it – one worker died on the spot while the other succumbed to his injuries at a Hospital – another worker critically injured was admitted to a Medical College Hospital – the trio were temporary workers at the mechanical section of the mill)

FIRE Factory worker taken to hospital with serious burns following factory fire (a factory worker is in intensive care with burns to his face and torso after a factory fire – a firefighter was also injured – the blaze broke out just after 6am – one man in his 30s, described as a “long-term, experienced employee” suffered severe chest, head and torso burns – it is also believed he suffered respiratory burns – it was unknown how the fire started)

CHEMICAL Plant workers suffer severe chemical burns (three workers who had been exposed and burned by chemicals went to the hospital for major burns and one worker may have even ingested the chemical – two other employees suffered contact burns to their arms while transporting the worker to the decontamination room – it was not immediately clear which chemical had been exposed)

UPDATE on EXPLOSION – ACETYLENE CYLINDER Oil workers burned in Southern Illinois explosion remain hospitalized (two oil company workers, 43 and 66, were badly burned in an explosion and remain hospitalized – they were injured when an an acetylene tank exploded in a workshop – one worker sustained second degree burns to 40 percent of his body and remains in the intensive care unit – the other worker pulled him to safety and sustained burns to both hands and the upper part of his body and he remains hospitalized – investigators say they believe a wood-burning stove overheated, causing the nearby acetylene tank to explode – the blast sent the tank through the walls of the workshop – firemen found it in a neighboring yard)

SANITATION FATALITY Worker crushed by garbage truck (a sanitation worker, 50, has died after being crushed under the garbage truck he was working on – according to reports around 6.15 am the worker was standing at the back of truck when he slipped while jumping off to collect a resident’s garbage – he reported fell on his back – the driver of the truck, who did not see the fall, then reversed over the worker, accidentally crushing him – the driver told police he did not hear the screams for help, over the noise of the garbage compacter of the truck – worker was pronounced dead on the scene)

LOADING DOCK FATALITY Worker dies from injuries (a worker, 29, suffered serious injuries after begin pinned between a tractor-trailer and loading dock at a Warehousing facility – he was at the loading dock when a transport truck reversed into the dock and struck him – paramedics attended the scene and the worker was transported to a Hospital for treatment)

DRILL RIG FATALITY Man dies after drilling rig accident (OSHA is investigating the death of an oilfield worker, 22, who was injured while working on a rig – preliminary information indicates the worker was crushed by a set of power tongs – power tongs are used on drilling rigs to handle pipe going in and out of well holes – the incident happened about 1:30 p.m. and he died while receiving treatment from paramedics who were preparing to fly him to a hospital)

CRANE FATALITY Worker dies at Tomago plant (a worker, 40, at a metal manufacturing plant died when he was struck by equipment that was suspended from an overhead crane – he was seriously injured in the accident and later died of his injuries)

ELECTROCUTION Worker electrocuted at Lowes Distribution Center in Rockford (a maintenance supervisor, 53, died after he was electrocuted about 3:30 p.m. while working in a false ceiling above a conference room inside the facility – an autopsy found the cause of death to be electrocution – a co-worker heard a noise and called out to the worker – the co-worker went to his aid, brought him down a ladder and started CPR – paramedics found him unresponsive and with unstable vital signs – he was taken to a Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:35 p.m.)

Train accident at BMW in Spartanburg County (four rail cars were involved in a train accident near the plant shortly before 6 a.m. – only one car is leaning, the other three are still on the track – the rail cars were carry cars – no one was injured, and the cause of the accident is still under investigation)

REFINERY FIRE Ohio refinery fire quickly controlled (a fire at a refinery was quickly contained – newspaper reports that an explosion triggered the blaze just before midnight – the fire was reported in a unit that converts petroleum crude oils into gasoline, ethylene, and other products – there were no injuries, and no air quality issues have been detected inside or outside the refinery)

dimethylamine Three people sent to hospitals after accident chemical release at Taminco plant (five people received medical treatment for exposure to dimethylamine (DMA60) – two of those people work for the plant, two are EMS employees and one is a truck driver who was on scene when the chemical leaked – the cloud of dimethylamine was accidentally released during a rail transfer at the plant)

AMMONIA DIFFUSER TANK Hazmat Team Contains Ammonia Leak At Cold Storage Facility (residents near the area were told to stay indoors as the Fire Department contained an ammonia leak that triggered a Hazmat situation inside a cold storage facility – the Hazardous Materials Team was able to stop the leak and plug drains leading to a river – no evacuations were necessary – a four-block perimeter was established – the FD made entry to the facility where they shut off the main valves to the ammonia system and contained the liquid ammonia that had leaked – the leak was discovered coming from a diffuser tank – the team plugged the leak and contained the 100-200 gallons of liquid that had leaked from the tank)

AMMONIA Ammonia leak on Sheboygan’s north side quickly fixed (a leak from an 1800-gallon tank holding anhydrous ammonia caused fire and police officials to close down the streets around the Orthodontics facility – around 1:08 p.m. firefighters responded to a call from an employee at the site who smelled a toxic odor – two hours later the problem was resolved, without any injuries – the cause of the leak was that a component in the regulator apparently failed, likely due to rapid temperature fluctuations, a press release from the business said)

CHLORINE Gas leak at Devonport navy base (a worker was taken to hospital after a chlorine gas leak at the Navy Base – the man inhaled a small amount of gas while changing the chlorine gas bottles at the navy swimming pool – he was taken to a Hospital for a check-up)

FORKLIFT FATALITY Man killed in forklift accident at Buffalo plant (a man was crushed in a forklift accident at about 11:30 a.m. – the company makes loose dry material for use in sanitary applications and for polishing and sweeping industrial floors)

CONSTRUCTION

UPDATE no a MANLIFT FATALITY Worker in construction accident has died (a man involved in an industrial accident has since died of his injuries – the worker was involved in construction at a shopping complex – he was using a scissor lift when he was crushed between the lift and an overhead canopy – emergency crews had to use the “jaws of life” to extricate the man from the bucket of the scissor lift)

CHAIN FAILURE Worker in critical, but stable condition after injury on parkway (a construction worker is in critical, but stable condition after an industrial accident just before 1 p.m. – the employee was sent to a hospital after a chain used to move a storage container snapped and whipped him in the neck)

TRENCH FATALITY Texas Worker Dies In Trench Collapse (a freshly dug trench for a water line collapsed on a member of the construction crew, killing the worker around 4 p.m.)

CRUSHED by MACHINERY Construction worker suffers serious head injury after being crushed by machinery (a worker, 24, taken to hospital with head and shoulder injuries after he was crushed by machinery – it is understood that the man was crushed by machinery during a tunneling operation, although a company spokesman insisted it had not and that the tunnel structure was sound)

FALL Plastic sheeting breaks worker’s fall in Allston (plastic sheets broke a construction worker’s fall and may have prevented a serious injury – the worker had to be cut out of the plastic and he was then taken to the hospital – at this point investigators don’t even know where the worker was standing when he fell – the worker did not suffer any life threatening injuries)

CRANE 1 person critically injured in Sarpy County crane accident (a crane operator was critically injured in an accident involving workers on a bridge project – two workers who were on the crane tumbled into the Missouri River, but they weren’t hurt – the construction crane rolled onto its top about 9:25 a.m. – the operator was trapped in the compartment and freed by bridge workers, who used cutting torches to extricate the operator – the operator was taken to a Medical Center in critical condition – two people on the crane — they were about 100 feet in the air — fell into the river, about 20 to 30 feet from the riverbank – they swam to shore and refused medical treatment)

HOTWORK FIRE Roofer’s torch ignited fire at Athena’s Diner in Howell (employees, patrons escape without injuries – fire apparently started when workers replacing a roof ignited it with a propane torch – the fire, which was reported at 4:30 p.m., destroyed the kitchen area and spread throughout the interior of the building within the walls)

FATAL FALL from SCAFFOLDING in contact with ELECTRICITY House painter dies in QC scaffolding accident (a house painter, 28, died while two of his co-workers were injured when the metal scaffolding they were on accidentally touched a high voltage wire – the deceased fell from the scaffolding, head first, when a charge of electricity jolted his body – he was declared dead by attending doctors from a head wound with minor burns on the body – his co-workers, 31, 32, were confined at the same hospital after sustaining third degree burns – the incident happened around 4 p.m. while the men were dismantling lead pipe scaffoldings that the trio had used in painting the second floor of a home – the house painters were disassembling the scaffolding, a lead pipe accidentally touched an electrical wire causing electricity to surge through the makeshift ladder)

MISCELLANEOUS

BUCKET TRUCK COLLAPSE Tree service worker hurt when bucket collapses (a tree service worker survived a frightening fall when the arm on his bucket truck collapsed, sending him crashing into a parked car and onto a driveway – the worker was lowering the bucket when the arm collapsed – he was taken to a Medical Center with non life-threatening injuries)

WELDING FIRE Man seriously burned by torch transported by LifeFlight (a man, 34, operating a torch was transported by LifeFlight helicopter to a hospital because of third-degree burns – he suffered third-degree burns on 50 percent of his body – a man operating a torch somehow ended up catching his clothing on fire)

CRANE Accident downs power lines, clogged traffic (no one was hurt but thousands are without power after a power line struck a crane and set a tree-trimming truck on fire – the accident occurred around 11 a.m.)

What’s New @ SAFTENG.net

New Volume of Flammability and Sensitivity of Materials in Oxygen-Enriched Atmospheres Available from ASTM International

Fluke is voluntarily recalling certain 373, 374, 375 and 376 Digital Clamp Meters

Genie Safety Notice (Secondary Lift Cylinder Replacement)

Safety Notice 120002 Supplement (Genie Motor Controller Failure)

2013 Video of the Week #5 (Respirator)

2013 Photo of the Week #5 (Caution Sign)

The “numbers game” and auditing

Revised Electrical Std “Grandfathering” and applicable dates

On-Line FIRST AID training is NOT enough (OSHA 2012 LOI)

PSM/RMP Trick Question (Poll)

A “Manufacturer’s Recommended Practice” is a RAGAGEP